


Christmas gone wrong

by RebecaThomas



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas Party, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad Secret Santa 2019, NOT STARKER - Freeform, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Cuddling, Song: Light (Sleeping At Last), Trapped In Elevator, anti starker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21890851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebecaThomas/pseuds/RebecaThomas
Summary: Tony decided the next time he would ever use an elevator, he would make sure FRIDAY was not in the middle of a scheduled update.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Comments: 12
Kudos: 129
Collections: Iron Dad Secret Santa 2019





	Christmas gone wrong

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Web_HeadWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Web_HeadWrites/gifts).



> This is my gift for Irondad Secret Santa! Hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> Tw panic attacks

"Peter, hurry up we're gonna be late!" Tony called out behind him, waving him into the elevator. 

"Since when have you cared about punctuality?" Peter asked as he speedwalked to reach his mentor. 

"Since Pepper threatened me 3 minutes ago." Tony replied, standing outside the elevator as the doors opened. 

"Makes sense." Peter said, with a slight chuckle. 

Tony ushered Peter in, sliding in beside him and tapping the correct floor before leaning back to stand beside Peter. 

"So what are we gonna do at the Christmas party? Is it just-" 

Peter's question was interrupted by a loud screeching sound and the elevator grinding to a halt. 

"Tony?! Tony, what's happening?!" Peter asked, eyes flitting around the confined room. 

"I think the elevator is stuck." Tony replied, forcing his panic down. 

"We're gonna die, Tony!" 

"Calm down, Pete. We are not going to die. I promise." Tony said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. He could not have Peter panicking in such a confined space. 

Despite his soft words, Peter's fear increased. Clawing its way up his throat and making itself at home in Peter's chest. The fear expanded and diminished with an unsteady rhythm; a shard of glass stabbing him with every pulse. He couldn't breathe. His chest was heaving but air wasn't making its way into his lungs. The walls were closing in, the space in the elevator getting smaller and smaller. He was under the rubble again. It was going to crush him. A single thought raced through his mind. 

He was trapped. 

* * *

_"Peter! Peter can you hear me?! Kid, please! I need you to calm down! Peter!"_

* * *

_"Hello! Hello! Please. Hey, hey, please. I’m down here. I’m down here. I’m stuck. I’m stuck. I can’t move. I can’t…"_

He was under the building. Nobody was coming to save him. No one would find him. He was terrified. 

_"Someone please help me! I'm stuck! Please!"_

Peter's voice broke off with a sob. He was stuck under the rubble and no one was going to find him. Aunt May would be so upset. He was going to die there, alone.

_"P-p-please! I can't move and-and I'm stuck!"_

The rubble was crushing him, it seemed to get heavier and heavier the longer he was there. 

_"Tony! Please, someone, anyone! Tony please help me!"_

* * *

Tony watched the kid crumple to the floor as though his legs couldn’t bear the weight of standing anymore. The teen pulled his knees towards him and wound his arms tightly around himself. Small whimpers emitted from Peter, the young superhero’s face hidden by his knees, but Tony was sure he was crying. 

Tony was hesitant to touch the boy, in fear of making the panic attack worse. He didn’t know Peter well enough to just reach out and grab him. Tony had only ever seen him as the excitable and happy kid he was, with the rare occasion of when he was tired after a long session in the lab. So to reach out and grab him, maybe even hug him, well, that was out of the question. Even though Peter was naturally a physically affectionate person… they just weren’t there yet.

“Pete? Peter can you hear me?”

Well, that tactic was out of the window. Tony racked his brain for something, anything, that might help to calm Peter down. At that exact moment, however, Tony’s brain decided to go into hyperdrive about everything that he was worried about. Mainly whatever Peter was being haunted by at that very moment.

The thought that Peter was panicking and crying about something he didn’t know about scared Tony. It scared him a lot. 

How was he supposed to help him if he didn’t know what he was trying to help with?

* * *

The building creaked. Everything was so heavy and painful. Dust and rubble were the only things in his eyesight. Blood dripped from his temple, he could feel it rolling down the side of his face. Ash wafted through the air, choking him. The building got heavier and heavier, and his strength depleted. 

He begged for someone to save him. But they wouldn't find him. This is where it ended. The building creaked. 

* * *

Tony decided the next time he would ever use an elevator, he would make sure FRIDAY was not in the middle of a scheduled update. 

His phone had no service, FRIDAY couldn't help and he had left the suit in his lab, thinking that the Christmas party would be safe enough without it. 

Peter was having a panic attack and Tony had no idea how to help. When he had panic attacks, he went to the lab to tinker and distract himself, but Peter wasn't like that, and even if he was, there would be no way to tinker if he was trapped in an elevator. 

It was a hopeless situation but he couldn't just leave Peter to deal with a panic attack by himself. 

Not knowing what else to do, the billionaire wedged himself in between Peter and the corner of the elevator, leaving enough room for Peter to shuffle away if he made a wrong move. 

'Wrong move.'

It made him sound like he was calming down a frightened animal rather than a kid. A superpowered kid, but a kid nonetheless. He hated that Peter was going through this and that he was stuck with him, Tony Stark, famous for being terrible with emotions and children. 

A random song popped into his head, and without meaning to he hummed the tune softly, singing under his breath. 

_May these words be the first_

_To find your ears._

_The world is brighter than the sun_

_N_ _ow that you're here._

* * *

Slabs of concrete fell in the distance, and the pressure on his body increased. The silence cocooned him. A veil of solitude. Unbroken until the soft murmur of a song drifted through the air. 

_Though your eyes will need some time to adjust_

_To the overwhelming light surrounding us,_

_I'll give you everything I have._

_I'll teach you everything I know._

_I promise I'll do better._

_I will always hold you close,_

_But I will learn to let you go._

_I promise I'll do better._

He- he _knew_ that song. That voice. It took the pain away, even just for a minute.

_I will soften every edge,_

_I'll hold the world to its best,_

_And I'll do better._

_With every heartbeat I have left_

_I will defend your every breath,_

_And I'll do better._

_'Сause you are loved._

_You are loved more than you know._

The song was getting louder, more steady. It drifted closer to where he was and the pain seemed to flicker away.

_I hereby pledge all of my days_

_To prove it so._

_Though your heart is far too young to realize_

_The unimaginable light you hold inside,_

_I'll give you everything I have._

_I'll teach you everything I know._

_I promise I'll do better._

_I will always hold you close,_

_But I will learn to let you go._

The building seemed to have no weight at all. The melody seemed to take his pain away. 

_I promise I'll do better._

_I will rearrange the stars,_

_Pull 'em down to where you are._

_I promise, I'll do better._

_Tony._ It was Tony's voice. Tony was there. He was there. Tony would help him. 

_With every heartbeat I have left,_

_I'll defend your every breath._

_I promise I'll do better._

_I will soften every edge,_

_Hold the world to its best._

_I promise I'll do better._

_With every heartbeat I have left,_

_I'll defend your every breath_

"Tony." Peter's voice creaked. 

* * *

When Peter spoke it was like an anvil had been lifted from Tony's chest. He could hear him. Now they could start to fix this. 

"Kid, kid. I need you to listen to me, okay? All you have to do is listen to my voice. Okay?" 

Peter's whimpers quietened; he took that as a sign that he had heard him. 

"I need you to open your eyes, okay?" 

Peter's hand gripped Tony's dress shirt so hard, wrinkles were forming on the expensive white shirt. He didn't care though, what mattered was Peter. 

"Slowly, kiddo. Just look at me. That's it, kid. Almost there. You can do it, Pete."

Peters eyes slowly opened, blinking dazedly at the bright lights. They were puffy and red and tears were still gathered on his eyelashes, threatening to fall. But at least, now, Tony could see the hazel in his eyes and that was enough for him. 

Peter needed Tony. He had to put his discomfort behind him. For Peter. 

He smiled softly as he put a hand behind Peter's head to pull him closer to his chest. As Peter placed his head against his mentor's chest, Tony's other hand cradled his face. With the pad of his thumb, Tony wiped away the tears that were streaked across his face, the action came naturally - as though an instinct. 

“I’m- I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“Hey, hey it’s alright kiddo. You don’t need to apologise.”

“But- but I do, Mr Stark! I panicked and started crying and I was no help-"

"Hey, I already told you. It's not your fault. You can't control things like this, and you can't blame yourself either. It's fine, kid. Trust me." 

"O-okay." Peter replied, with a small sigh of relief as he leaned further into his father figure's chest. 

* * *

They say in comfortable silence for a few minutes, relishing in the comfort of each other, before Tony spoke up. 

"You know, one time I got locked into a classroom at MIT for 4 hours. I was so scared." 

"Really? What happened?" Peter asked, tilting his head to face Tony. 

"I started crying and banging on the door. I almost jumped out of the window because I was so scared of being alone." 

"How did you get out?" 

"Rhodey found me. I missed our weekly game night and he got worried. Found me sobbing in the middle of the room and took me back to our dorm room. Gave me some blankets and hot chocolate and we watched movies till I calmed down. He never brought it up again."

"Mr. Rhodey is great! You're lucky he was there."

"I know." Tony replied, solemnly. 

The silence enveloped them again, until Peter broke it. 

"How long until people start looking for us?" 

"I don't know. It's been an hour so I'm expecting people to start getting near." 

As he said that the doors of the elevator groaned and he and Peter were left with the view of Steve forcing the doors open, while the rest of the team, Rhodey, Pepper, Happy and May stood behind him, watching anxiously. 

"Oh hey guys. We were just talking about you." Tony said cheerfully, as the doors were finally opened. 

"Peter!" May rushed into the elevator to scoop Peter into a hug, holding him close to her. 

Tony pushed himself off the ground and walked towards Pepper. 

"Thank God, you're safe Tony," Pepper pulled Tony into a hug, holding tight as Tony let himself melt into her touch. "We couldn't find you and I knew you wouldn't be this late when you had Peter with you." 

"FRIDAY was down for an upgrade and there was no service in there, plus the suit was in the lab." 

"The one time you actually need it." Pepper replied with a small chuckle. 

Tony let go of Pepper to give a quick side hug to Rhodey, before twisting around to face Peter.

"Hey, kid." 

Peter wrapped his arms around Tony quickly, catching him off guard. 

"Thank you for looking after me in the elevator when I was panicking." 

Tony wound his arms around the boys back, one hand resting on the nape of his neck. 

"It's okay Pete. That's what I'm here for." They stayed in that position for a few moments until Tony pulled back to look Peter in the eye. "We still have to talk about what triggered that panic attack." He stated, firmly. 

Peter gulped and looked away. He was _not_ looking forward to that. 

"But that's for another time. Right now, I think we deserve that all-you-can-eat buffet that I paid for. Don't you?" 

Peter laughed in response. 


End file.
